Our Common Manners and Customs as Hebrew Peoples: Ancient Israelites and the Eboe (Heeboe, Ibo, Ibu, Igbo) Peoples—A Challenge for Personal and Collective Reinvention of All Ibo (Hebrew) Peoples

By Nkem Emeghara

Dr. Ola Udah (literal meaning: Judahs offering or Judahs ornament) Equiano (possibly ekwe alu a) was right when he identified his Eboe people as presenting same manners and customs as the Israelites of the old times as illustrated in the book of Leviticus. This study attempts to be an evidence to this assertion. It is a product of a research that began since 1983 and is barely concluded in 2018. The reader would readily realize that the research on this topic has only begun. Changes, modifications, and even eliminations of manners and customs of people through the generations make continuation of this study inevitable. This would be especially expected when examining ancient cultural issues today. Although the study did not strictly begin as another attempt to prove the identity of the Ibos as the Jews enunciated in the Old Testament designation of the children of Jacob, it has however added a relevant credence to that fact.

Some of the manners and customs examined include similarities in the use of words and meanings, ritual practices, beliefs, personal attributes, and aspirations that are common to the Eboe (Heeboe, Ibu, Ibo, Igbo) peoples and the ancient Israelites. The book is basically a call for individual and collective reinvention of Eboes (and indeed worldwide Jews) for collective survival in a hostile world. The book interprets a true present-day Hebrew as the true worshipper of the I am that I amthe G-d of our fathers who singled out Abraham and Jacob, our common ancestral fathers, and chose them for a mission to the world.

The book finally suggests a version of Christianity centered on YeshuaJesus the Christand his message in the New Testament, a version of Christianity that would include relevant aspects of our omenala (law) among other recommendations. This is a book no one should ignore as it should be an eye-opener to the facts relevant to finding the solution to a long-standing identity crisis of the Eboe people.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: May 23, 2018
• ISBN: 9781543490459

Book preview

Copyright © 2018 by Nkem Emeghara.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

RSV

[Scripture quotations are]from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

NIV

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

The Catholic Living Bible

The Catholic Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. The Living Bible, TLB, and the The Living Bible logo are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Publishers.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 06/04/2018

Xlibris

800-056-3182

www.Xlibrispublishing.co.uk

779557

Images of Some Ibo peoples before and during early colonial times show that they are black in complexion. Also the Ibos being of E1B1A Y-Chromosome Haplotype are clearly said to belong to the Semitic stock and never Hamitic who are of the E1B1B DNA type. This identifies them to be the original Hebrew-Semitic stock who also constitute majority of the African-Americans today and possess the purest of DNA. They are also not descendants of Yaphet whose chromosomal make up is of a different stock as observed among the inhabitants of North Africa and surrounding nations. However, it is to be noted that Jewishness is not a genetic factor but religious and therefore we do not need to speak of a Jewish gene as some people have claimed. The Ibos are perhaps the original Hebrews of today. They are Jews only because their ancestors worshipped Ayah Ashar Ayah(also represented as YHWH), literally The I am that I am, the true and only G-d identifying them as descendants of Jacob as the Old Testament text referred to children of Jacob as Jews. Ibos are not participants of Judaism whose main scripture is the Talmud. Ibo ancestors relied upon the Laws of Ayah Ashar Ayah called theTorah and other ancient scriptures which they carried about even while on their journey in exile, though enemies destroyed most of these texts. It is also not unlikely that their ancestors embraced idolatrous practices while on their way from where their ancestors began their journey to their final habitations and as they intermingled with various peoples many of whom perhaps totally got absorbed into the Heeboe ethnicity.

Glossary of Words

Ayah Asha Ayah or Aiyah: The revealed name of the supreme G-d to Moses (Exodus 3: 13). This name has been rendered as YHWH- the so called tetragramaton. This name later was rendered as ’Yahweh and much later Jehovah’ by Europeans. The claim that G-d did not want his name to be mentioned is unacceptable and has no biblical evidence. David also referred to G-d as Yah in Psalm 68: 4

Adama: This is the title of the head of the advisory team to the Eze Ala, a title that reminds of the Hebrew word adama

Afo, Agho: the third day of the week in Ibo calendar

Agbala: A feminine deity associated with circumcision

Aru, Alu: abomination that which pollutes the land, dis balances harmonious living

Ayolo: (ego) traditional name for money called cowries

Agwu Ukwu: the Circumcision deity

Aguba: locally crafted knife, in the past made from stone (flint)

Ajo ofia: Evil forest where dead criminals were thrown into

Be Chi: The abode of the Chi, the dwelling place of the deity. Chi perhaps became part of Ibo vocabulary following the colonization by the Greek invaders of the Hebrew land that also modified the language. Chi came to mean deity, the owner of destiny, the determiner of destiny. Destiny in this sense means existence and its operations. Chi later came to be used to represent God.

Be: also connotes ‘in’, just as in Hebrew ‘Beth essentiae’ in betselem elohim- in the image of elohim

Chukwu: a version for the name of God literally the great chi

Dibia: Native healer, diviner, prophets

Ede: cocoyam

Uburu- one of the early attempts to pronounce Hebrew (ha-ibhri), some others attemps produced Ibu, Eboe, Heebo, Iboe, Ibo, Igbo etc

Uturu- An Ibo community in the south of the Iboland having a legend that claims to be the original home of the Igbo people, the other legend around Eri is found among some of the northern part of the land

Edo: beauty red coloured powder

Eke-The traditional first market day; also a name for the war deity

‘Udah(Judah):Believed to be the ancestral father of most of the Ibo inhabitants of present Abia state, Rivers State(Etche, Elele etc) and parts of Akwa Ibom state as reflected by names of towns and personal names

Assher: Believed to be the ancestral father of most of the Ibos inhabiting parts of Rivers State (Ikwere, Ugwuocha and area surrounding communities), Imo state (Owerre, Oguta)

Zebulun: Believed to be the ancestral father of parts of Anambra (including Ozubulu and others)

Acchi: Believed to be the ancestral father of Ibos inhabiting parts of Enugu and Ebonyi states etc

Ifit, Ihite, Ivite: Believed to be dialectal names of those Ibo communities claiming Levitical ancestral origin. The communities are scattered all over Iboland and are associated with mysteries and rituals wherever they are; usually identified with the word being suffix or prefix of the name of the town or community inhabiting them such as Ifiteukpo, Oraifite, Ihite…

Ekwensu: Name given to the opposer, Satan, understood as an agent of Chi ukwu (the great chi). Chi is sometimes described as destiny Spirit- also referred toas alter ego.

Elemiri: trumpet carved from the horn of a Ram and used to rally the people

Eze Ala: the title of the High Priest literally King of Ala Priesthood said to be inherited from the lineage of Levites

Eze Nri: The title of the Priestly King of Nri clan (Eri) said to be a descendeant of the Epraimite tribe

Ibi Ugwu: circumcision process

Ibhri: Hebrew, the name of one of the sons of an Ibo ancestor said to have been mispronounced ‘Igbo’. The origin of the word was not a name word but a description of a characteristic or activity of the people. Initially Ha ibhri is said to describe a people who have crossed over to live in the forest, thus the forest people

Heeboes, Eber, Eboe, Eboan, Ibo, Igbo: a corruption of the original word Ha’ibri. A conglomeration of peoples inhabiting what became the eastern region and beyond of the country called Nigeria; usually known as the Ibo country. Contrary to common perception, the core Igbo peoples are the Ikwere, the Etche, the Ijaw, the Ogoni, Ibibio, Efik, Anang and others (inhabitants of the present day Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Cross River states). These peoples were first named Ibos and gave and shaped the Igbo core culture. They were the first batch of Igbos to receive the colonial masters and also produced the Igbo grammar syntax and the first Igbo Bible; as well as shaping Christianity as known among the Igbos. They also shaped the Igbo political life and general outlook to life. Other Igbo peoples include the Igbo of the hinterland; notably, the inhabitants of the present day Imo, Anambra, Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi, Delta, parts of Kogi and Benue states

Igwe: the Heavens, some Igbo use it to refer to the Eternal and the title for the all seeing and all knowing, all powerful, the owner and creator of the universe

Areli: one of the ancestral fathers of the Ibo: specifically father of a section of the Ibo including some Owerre, Orlu, Oguta, etc peoples.

Iseyah: Ibo special name for Yahweh; also referred locally as Chiukwu Okike, Chukwu Abiama (abiama and ancient Ibo word, literally is the people my father in Hebrew; thus referring to Abrama, or Abraham the father of nations), Chineke, Chiukwu; thus making the Igbo the Chi People

Ise: Amen, may it be so (implying as Yah Yahweh has willed it); full expression is iseyah

Izu: Ibo name for week made of four market days

Asaa: Seven symbolizes completeness

Iri: ten

Mbari (embarri) Ibo ritual art gallery

Mgbado: waist beads

Omu ugwo (omugwo): Seclusion following the birth of a child- a period of purification literally the sacred palm frond to depict carrying out the ritual debt that is owed the deity following child birth- an obligatory duty of purification

Ugwo: what is owed, a duty that must be performed

Nri or Eri: the name of the ancestral origin of an Ibo clan according to legend and claimed to be a descendant of an ancient Israelite Levitical order as recorded in the Old Testament

Nwata Ona: the name given for the pectorial mask worn by the Eze Nri

Alah, ani: universal Ibo deity; regarded by some to be same as the Supreme deity of the Ibos that was supplanted by the colonial ‘God’ concept; perhaps similar to Elah, eloah of the Old Testament times. The Chiukwu originally of the Aro peoples and Igwekala of Umunoha concepts much later rivalled the Alah concept. The Ibos regard these deities to be superior to the western colonial ‘God’ concept who some claim was created by Chiukwu (The most supreme Chi). Chi could be conceived as referring to the unfathomable sovereign ‘Cosmic Mind’ from whom all things came and who directs the destiny of everything. Chiukwu is not limited by time and space. Thus is the source of all creation.

Nkwo: Ibo fourth day

Obi, Obiri: the shrine of a compound, regarded as the heart and nucleus of an Ibo compound.

Ofo: Staff of moral authority and justice. The Eri (Nri) Levitical High Priest is said to have come to Ibo land with it according to one of the legends (Eri legend).

Ozo, Nze: Ibo titles, the Eze Nri (Eri) coronates people with these titles

Oye, orie: the second market day in Ibo calendar

Otunsi: fetish that is believed to protect a land

Uhie: a beautifying powder, yellow in coloured

Ugwu Nzu: Eri’s first residence location according the Eri legend

Uke: ill fortune

Uziza: vegetable for cooking, believed to have curative properties

Ogirishi: an ever living plant used to identify the burial spot of a baby’s placenta, the foreskin removed in circumcision and other spots

Mgbe: puberty initation ritual process for females

Omu: Usually omu nkwu: fresh palm fronds used to indicate sacredness, separated, holiness, and the sanctified; different from the profane, ordinary

G-D: used instead of the German-English derivatives, Gott, God; and used to refer to Adonai, Lord in place of Yahweh, ha shem, the sacred name

Nkwu: name for the palm tree

Mbari, embarri: ritual historical art gallery

Ajoku ji: festival marking the Ibo New Year, linked strongly with celebration with yam crop and yam meal; literally ‘Yam festival’ festival of first fruits

Ipu ala: purification ritual, literally cleansing a polluted the land

Igba ndu: ritualised covenant made between peoples and the deity- often takes a form of sin offering for atonement and commensal meal

Odo: name for egg yolk- applied during circumcision ritual

Igba nkwa- Ibo feast of the Promise- Passover

Onu mkpuru akuku- Ibo feast of First Fruits

Iwa ji, alo mmuo, new yam festival

Onwa asato- feast of Tabernacles

Ola Udah Ekwe alua: identified to originate from Iseke Ibo community. He was perhaps an Ikwuani Ibo boy when he was kidnapped and sold into slavery at the age of eleven. He produced the first extant documented evidence that identifies his Ibo people as Hebrews. His name was corrupted by his captors and slave masters

Some Relevant Extracts from Olaudah Equiano: The Interesting Narratives of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, The African (Made in the USA Middletown, DE 18 July 2017) Chapter 1(passim): sic:

That part of Africa, known by the name Guinea, to which the trade in slaves is carried on, extends along the coast 3400 miles, from the Senegal to Angola, and includes a variety of kingdoms. Of these the most considerable is the kingdom of Benen, both as to extent and wealth, the richness and cultivation of the soil, the power of its king, and the number and warlike disposition of the inhabitants. It is situated nearly under the line, and extends along the coast about 170 miles, but runs back into the interior part of Africa to a distance hitherto I believed unexplored by any traveler; and seems only terminated at length by the empire of Abyssinia, near 1500 miles from its beginning. This kingdom is divided into many provinces and districts: in one of the most remote and fertile of which, called Eboe, I was born, in the year 1745, in a charming fruitful vale, named Essaka. The distance of this province from the capital of Benin and the sea coast must be considerable; for I had never heard of white men or Europeans, nor of the sea: and our subjection to the king of Benin was little more than nominal; for every transaction of the government, as far as my slender observation extended, was conducted by the chiefs or elders of the place….

… The West Indian planters prefer the slaves of Benin or Eboe to those of any other part of Guinea, for their hardiness, intelligence, integrity, and zeal…

…Our land is uncommonly rich and fruitful, and produces all kinds of vegetables in great abundance. We have plenty of Indian corn, and vast quantities of cotton and tobacco. Our pine apples grow without culture; they are about the size of the largest sugar-loaf, and finely flavoured. We have also spices of different kinds, particularly pepper; and a variety of delicious fruits which I have not seen in Europe; together with gums of various kinds, and honey in abundance. All our industry is exerted to improve those blessings of nature. Agriculture is our chief employment; and everyone, even children and women are engaged in it. Thus we are all habituated to labour from our earliest years. Every one contributes something to the common stock; and as we are unacquainted with idleness, we have no beggars…

Deformity is indeed unknown amongst us, I mean that of shape. Numbers of the natives of Eboe now in London might be brought in support of this assertion: for, in regard to complexion, ideas of beauty are wholly relative. I remember while in Africa to have seen three Negro children, who were tawny, and another quite white, who were universally regarded by myself, and the natives in general, as far as related to their complexions, as deformed. Our women too, were in my eyes, at least uncommonly graceful, alert, and modest to a degree of bashfulness; nor do I remember to ever heard of an instance of incontinence amongst them before marriage. They are remarkably cheerful. Indeed cheerfulness and affability are two of the leading characteristics of our nation.

Every woman too, at certain times, was forbidden to come into a dwelling-house, or touch any person, or anything we eat.

Though we had no places of public worship, we had priests and magicians, or wise men. I do not remember whether they had different offices, or whether they were united in the same persons, but they were held in great reverence by the people. They calculated our time, and foretold events, as their name imported, for we called them Ah-affoe-way-cah, which signifies calculators or yearly men, our year is called Ah-affoe.

We practiced circumcision like the Jews and made offerings and feasts on that occasion in the same manner as they did.

And here I cannot forbear suggesting what has long struck me very forcibly, namely, the strong analogy which even by this sketch, imperfect as it is, appears to prevail in the manners and customs of my countrymen and those of the Jews, before they reached the Land of Promise, and particularly the patriarchs while they were yet in that pastoral state which is described in Genesis-an analogy which alone would induce me to think that the one people had sprung from the other. Indeed this is the opinion of Dr Gill, who, in his commentary on Genesis, very ably deduces the pedigree of the Africans from Afer and Afra, the descendants of Abraham by Keturah his wife and concubine for both titles are applied to her. It is also conformable to the sentiments of Dr John Clarke, formerly Dean of Sarum, in his Truth of the Christian Religion: both these authors concur in ascribing to us this original. The reasoning of these gentlemen are still further confirmed by the scripture chronology; and if any further corroboration were required, this resemblance in so many respects is a strong evidence in support of the opinion.

Like the Israelites in their primitive state, our government was conducted by our chiefs or judges, our wise men and elders; and the head of a family with us enjoyed a similar authority over his household with that which is ascribed to Abraham and the other patriarchs. The law of retaliation obtained almost universally with us as with them; and even their religion appeared to have shed a ray of its glory, though broken and spent in its passage, or eclipsed by the cloud with which time, tradition, and ignorance might have enveloped it; for we had our circumcision a rule I believe peculiar to that people; we had also sacrifices and burnt offerings, our washings and purifications, on the same occasions as they had. As to the difference in colour between the Eboan Africans and the modern Jews I shall not pressure to account for it. It is a subject which has engaged the pens of both genius and learning, and is far above my strength. The most able and Reverend Mr T. Clarkson, however, in his much admired Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species, has ascertained the cause, in a manner that at once solves every objection on that account, and on my mind at least, has produced the fullest conviction. I shall therefore refer to that performance for the theory, contenting myself with extracting a fact as related by Dr Mitchel. The Spaniards, who have inhabited America, under the torrid zone, for any time, are become as dark coloured as our native Indians of Virginia; of which I myself have been a witness. There is also another instance of a Portuguese settlement at Mitomba, a river in Sierra Leone; where the inhabitants are bred from a mixture of the first Portuguese discoverers with the natives, are now become in their complexion, and in the wholly quality of their hair, perfect negroes retaining however a smartering of the Portuguese language. These instances and a great many more which might be adduced, while they shew how the complexions of the same persons vary in different climates, it is hoped may tend also to remove the prejudice that some conceive against the natives of Africa on account of colour….

Without belaboring the point Dr Olaudah Equiano, as he was called, briefly highlights some of those common manners and customs of his people, the Eboes; that they shared with the Jews of Old Testament Times. He seems to imply that these similar manners and customs they share including skin colour are too many in the Hebrew Text to question their connectedness as one people with a common origin. He also indicated that the Eboes were preferred to other ethnic groups as slaves by the buyers. This is corroborated by the fact that it is known that the white buyers would first ask their sellers if their catch was Onyeboe. They would shout to their sellers asking: Onyeboe?!! Onyeboe?!! Onyeboe?!!! Onyeboe?!!!!. It was this exclamation that gave the white person the designation Oyibo by inhabitants of then western Nigeria. This has become the name by which every white person is generally referred in that part of Nigeria. The reader will later in the book discover that the native inhabitants of the land referred to the white people as onyeboe because of their light skin complexion (just as the Ibos) when the colonial masters first met them. By this time even the natives had corrupted the name Ibhru to heebo, eboe, Ibo.

A Brief Preamble

That the Ibos occupying the Eastern territory (colonial Ibo country) and beyond, of present day Nigeria are Jews (Hebrews or Hebrew ISRAIAH; also referred to as Israelites) is no longer in question. Apart from the native consciousness expressed in many legends constantly pointing to that fact and their manifesting in different forms the characteristics of the Israelites as described in the Hebrew Bible, their recognition and acceptance into the well known Jewish Federation, King Solomon Sephardic Federation International (KSSFI) should attest to this identity to some extent. This universal recognition and acceptance as descendants of ancient Israelites was sealed after rigorous research that included visits to Ibo communities that is said to have spanned a period of at least a hundred years by international scholars including scholars of the University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom (UK). It was during the King Solomon Sephardic Federation International conference held in Philadelphia, USA that it was announced to the whole world that the Ibo peoples of today were officially recognized as descendants of ancient Israelites. So in May 1997 the Ibo peoples of Nigeria were presented with their certificate of membership of the world Jewry of the Sephardim stock. The Eze A E Chukwuemeka Eri, the holder of the Ofor Eri, said to be regarded as the oldest symbol of authority in the world was recognized as the leader of all Ibo Israelites and the coordinator of all Lost Tribes of Israel in West Africa. He was at that conference asked to officially form the Nigeria Chapter of the Federation. King Solomon Sephardic Federation is the umbrella organization representing the Ancient Sepahardic Nations of Eastern Judeans, Hebrews and Israelites. Its primary function is to identify and assist the lost tribes of Israel and Jews in diaspora. It is a non governmental, non-political and non-religious Cultural organization with chapters in Morocco, Ethiopia, Iran, India, the USA, Ghana, Uganda, South Africa, Belgium, Jordan, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Mali, Yemen, Spain, Switzerland, Burundi, Rwanda, and many other nations. The communiqué of this declaration also states that the KSSFI has the capability to bring member nations closer and to cooperate in areas of diplomacy, culture, tourism, business, education, construction, agriculture, medicine, science and technology etc for mutual benefits. The communiqués also emphatically states that the federation is determined to bring the Nigerian Jews (i.e Hebrew- Israiah/Israelites) into the world Jewry, act as a means of cohesion of all Nigerian Jews, establish a permanent relationship with Jewish communities everywhere and provide spiritual, social, and cultural integration of all Nigerian Jews. It hopes to enable the Ibos achieve the status of entering freely into Israel and to seek assistance from Israel including the Oleh Hadash according to the 1948 law of return. The communiqués concludes by calling upon all Ibo peoples to be part of this reinvention. However it is essential to mention here that the ethnic Ibos are not just Jews because they have been registered as members of the shepherdi. They are Hebrews and Jews only because they are children of Jacob who are described as Jews in the Hebrew Bible. Ethnic Ibo peoples have identified themselves in other countries including the Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, and in the Caribeans as among liberated slaves notably, St Vincents, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Martinique, etc and Jamaica where they were said to have arrived as the Red Ibos. In these lands, they have long claimed to be Israelites in origin. In fact a friend stated to me that from time immemorial people who are light skinned in Jamaica have been referred to as ‘Jamaican Ibo’. This, she explained, also connoted Jamaican Jew. Thus these Jamaicans, like other unidentified Ibos scattered worldwide through slave trade, are included as Sephardi Jews, this means that they are Hebrew-Israelites of the Sephardic stock also. This also shows that the Ibo nation is far broader than we have known so far. Perhaps, additional to this testimony is this: I met a bearded man somewhere and I was to examine him medically. Initial information involved self identification so in course of the interview he claimed of Caribean nationality but added, my ethnicity is Ibo according to my ancestors. You can only imagine how shocked I was; a man from the Caribean bearing a Muslim name and with long beard and shaven head. The most interesting part of it was that he insisted I must leave his ethnicity as Ibo. I asked if he had ever been to Iboland? He answered rather proudly: for sixty four years I have desired to visit the Ibo land, my ancestral home. I asked if he knew Ibos were Jews, the unadulterated Hebrews in existence today? He answered: Yes, I know: circumstances made me become a Muslim. In addition to these we learn that ethnic Ibos have been identified in various parts of the United States of America (USA) in large numbers. There is today Council of Ibo States in the USA.

On October 23 1997 two Ashkenazi Jews, Yitzhaq David and Zagi David excitedly called upon the Ibos to make a quick come back to reunite with Israel. This was because of the overwhelming evidences convincing them that the Ibos are indeed descendants of ancient Israelites. Earlier on the 28 March 1996 the Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria made a special gift of olive and oil to Eze Nri, a gift he confirmed was only offered to Kings of Israel. We can also recall that the Anglican missionary to Iboland, the Reverend George Thomas Basden long ago advised his fellow missionaries intending to come to Ibo country to first farmiliarise themselves with the Old Testament laws before coming to the Iboland if they must make a better witness to the Ibos. This is because according to him what he saw of the Ibo life style was all Old Testament practice characterized by belief in the one true God, circumcision on the 8th day following the birth of a baby boy, animal sacrifices that followed a carefully regulated pattern, feasts and laws similar to the laws of Moses, belief in clean and unclean animals to mention just these. It was on the basis of these observations and testimonies that some people argue that Ibos are not to be called Jews rather they are to be regarded as the original Hebrews of today. This is to differentiate them from those who claim to be Jews but who are not Jews by ethnicity. These non ethnic Jews claiming Jewish ancestry are often referred to as synagogues of Satan. These nonethnic Jews are many in number and have been claiming the control of the affairs of the world Jewry for perhaps a very long time. One example often cited is those of the Khazarian stock said to be converts to Judaism who established the present day Judaism of the Ashkenazic stock. They are said to have been responsible for interpreting much of what is known as Jewish today including establishing a Zionist political movement, the Jewish nation, its flag and symbols as well as the Star of David, and even claiming the sole right of determining who should or should not be regarded as a Jew or who should be given the qualification to belong to the world Jewry etc. They are said to have adulterated the Hebrew language by introducing the German version known as the Yiddish. However, there should be no reason why converts to Judaism cannot have the right to claim Jewish ethnicity including pursueing the well being of the Jewish people. What the world Jews need today is forging a common front to fight injustice and reinvent themselves and pursue a common task of carrying out the instruction of Yahawah (Yahweh). It was the failure of the true Hebrew Israelites to fulfil this task of Yahawah that ignited the curse on them (Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28). The world Jewry is expected to collectively fight and emancipate themselves from oppression wherever they are; it is hoped that Ibo Hebrew-Israelites will achieve their liberation with the cooperation of their fellow Jews just as the present day state of Israel has been achieved.

Further evidences were also observed to characterize the testimony of Ola udah (meaning the glory of Judah) Ikwuano or Ekwealua, (corrupted as Equiano) when he first read the Old Testament. He and his sister suffered the effect of the curse of Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 and its inherent blessing also. Having been taken into slavery with his younger sister who was perhaps about three years old, at the age of eleven; he later learnt to read and write in the English language. Thus reading the Hebrew Bible culture for the first time opened his eyes to the similarities in practice and belief among his people. This observation was corroborated by the opinion of scholars he cited above.

It is therefore the true worship of Yahweh that makes a person a true Jew, not just by belonging to an ethnic group. Any body can claim to be Hebrew but any identification with the Jew calls for scrutiny of your life style, worship, beliefs systems and allegiance. Yeshua, ha Maschiach stated this fact in the Berit Hachadasha (The New Testament) when he states that True worshiper of Yahweh must worship Him in Spirit and Truth. Paul the Apostle and all other Apostles also testify to this when they realized that claiming to be a Hebrew does not make a person right before Yahweh. Rather it is by being a true worshipper of Yahweh that is needed to be a Jew. We must not confuse being a Judaizer with being a Jew. A Judaizer practices Judaism, the type of religion Yeshua condemned as Hypocritical. Thus being a Jew is a commitment to serve Yahweh in truth and Spirit as the Mosaic laws require. It also includes being allegiant to the cause of the Jews and Israelite peoples all over the world, including fighting their wars and battles of survival. For this reason the writer of this study tends to prefer to address Ibos as Jews rather than as Hebrews. As Jews to have a calling to worship the God of their father Abraham in Spirit and Truth and to correct immorality, hostiltity, injustice and evil in the world, though they are truly Hebrews being children of Jacob and therefore Abraham(Abiama) as the Hebrew Bible refers to them.

The Deserts of Seth found in Africa

Even the land of Biafara including parts of Equatorial Guinnea and beyond inhabited by ethnic Ibo peoples who constitute the indigenous peoples of Biafara (IPOB) is located within what was called Desert of Seth (also referred to as the Deserts of Seth) of the ancient world. According to Bible account Seth was the third son of Adam and Eve who was born after Abel was murdered by his brother Cain.

Later on Eve gave birth to another son and named him Seth which means granted; for as she put it, God has granted me another son for the one Cain killed. When Seth grew up, he had a son and named him, Enosh. It was during Enosh’s lifetime that men first began to call themselves the Lord’s People.(The Catholic Living Bible) In other words it was Enosh and his descendants that first began to invoke or call upon the name of Yahawah: Leqra beshem Yahweh.(Genesis 4: 25-26)

According to the Apocalypses of Moses, Adam and Eve had thirty children, however only three were mentioned in the Bible. The Book of Jubilees mentions five of their children namely: Cain, Luluwa, Abel, Aklia and Seth. Adam and Eve were advised by the creator to descend to the lower level of the holy mountain and reside in the Cave of Treasures below paradise on the western border. Apparently Cain and his descendant later descended from the mountain and began to populate the plains below in the land called Nod to the East of Eden Gen 4: 16. No land was named after Cain. However when Seth began to multiply, the book goes on to say, Satan began to skim for an interaction between Cain and Seth’s children by Canem who had multiplied into a large city north of West Africa. Thus the desert of Seth in West Africa was named after the righteous son of Adam called Seth by his descendants. It was perhaps intermarriage between Cain’s descendants and Seth’s descendants that probably led to the flood in which only Noah and his family were preserved. However according to Amanda Trayce (2013): by 1777 AD the name Seth had disappeared from the map of the Europeans and in the modern times is located the Republic of Biafara located in the Southeast and dominated by the Igbo (Ebo, Heebo, Ibo) peoples who have long been recognized as a remnant of the lost tribe of Jacob. Unfortunately another form of conspiracy by sworn enemies of the Ibo (Hebrew) peoples has removed the name Biafra on the map, from identifying the same area.

Seth was perhaps the most likely ancestor of the Semites as Noah, his descendant who survived the flood and his household had three sons Ham, Shem and Japhet. Shem became the father of the Semites of which the ethnic Hebrew-Israiah (Israelites) are the main survival stock. The ethnic Semites are facing persecution worldwide including the Hebrew /Israiah, (Israelite) Ibos. As an observer sucintly stated: Thus the world’s best kept secret of the Jewishness of the Ibo peoples is no longer a secret as the G-d of the fathers of the Ibos who the Ibos refer to as Chiokike Abiama (Abrama, Abraham) has at his own time exposed the Jewishness of the Ibos to the rest of the world and comfounded enemies of this fact. Thus His Royal Highness (HRH) King Opigo, an izhon (‘Ijaw’) and through oral tradition, are believed to belong to one of the Jewish tribes (Hebrew- Israelite), intelligently and wisely suggested the name Biafara to the new nation in 1967, in the bid to unite all Ibos as descendants of Seth and in line with the Europeans calling the whole of the then Eastern Region Ibo country.

The origin and meaning of the name Biafra has been given different explanations. However the concensus seems to be directed to a generic term derived from the root word Ephraim. Mr Simon Ukegbe suggests that the republic of Biafra of 1967 should be named The Christain Democratic Republic of B’Ephraim. According to him the B’ should be referring to the Bight or bay bearing the name Biafra. According to him the Europeans at that time called the Bay variously Biafar/Biafara/Biafares. Researchers also hold the view that the area is inhabited by the descendants of Ephraim. Mitchell map of 1839 states that the important esturaries from where the rivers flow into the ocean is called Ephraim town which is located 60 miles from River Nun which was part of the Ibo country, and today is in the present day politically and artificially created South-South Nigeria. The river is said to be named after Nun the father of Joshua of the tribe of Ephraim. The Biblical meaning of the name Ephraim is ‘God has made me fruitful in the land of affliction.’ In actual fact this reflects the fate of the Ibo peoples inhabiting this area, notably, the following peoples as some people have artificially and politically demarcated today: All the Igbo speaking peoples, the Ijaw made up of speakers of Kalabari, Edoid, Izon languages; the Ibibios, Effiks, Ogojas, Idomas, Igalas, and others. This means that these peoples and their kith and kin in Guinea Bissau, Kameroons, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Thome, and others have been coexisting thousands of years before colonial unslaught that divided them into separate countries. As perhaps stated earlier, in Hebrew the word that is perhaps the root of the Baifrah is Behphrah that means disturbance, affliction, interference, interruption, distraction, intrusion and such like. It is a name word. B’Ephraim (be’ifra) thus becomes self explanatory, as the land of Ephriam. The B in Hebrew language being taken as either Beth essentiae or regarding it to mean strait forward simply in. That would mean as ifra or in Ifra: perhaps in affliction. Thus in a land of affliction. It was perhaps corrupted by European pronunciation and perhaps also plus the attempt to disconnect the inhabitants from their Israelite roots and from their associated superior status compared to the various colonial masters. This also means that the English who colonized the area like their fellow Europeans’ understanding of the indigenous Ibos was very limited. It is also possible that the word pronounced as Biafara is perhaps more a European creation being probably Portuguese in origin but derived from the original Hebrew name. I also understand that there is a town in Portugal called Biafra; this could confirm the foreign origin of the corruption of the name from its original pronunciation. The Portuguese also called Africans Negroes’, a word that they later gave a derogatory connotation as it came to refer to the black complexion as inferior. Others refer to inhabitants as Ebony" (perhaps derived from Eboany) perhaps later used to specifically describe those Africans who are of jet black beauty. However the Hebrew-Israelite Ibos are Semites while the descendants of Ham are not as some scholars have propounded. These scholars propound that it was the Hamites that sold the Semites into slavery while the descendants of Japhet were the slave owners and